Saturday, April 30, 2011

Both RMV Guru Sai Dutt, and Sourabh Verma lost in their quarterfinal matches, and with it the Indian challenge at the Yonex Sunrise India Open Super Series-2011 badminton tournament being held at Siri Fort complex in New Delhi, came to an end.

Other Indian players in the fray, had already lost in the earlier rounds. Most unexpected for the home spectators, was top seeded Saina Nehwal's loss in the first round, as also of the 8th seeded womens doubles pair of Jwala Gutta-Ashwini Ponnappa and the mens doubles pair of Rupesh Kumar/Sanave Thomas.

However Guru Sai Dutt and Sourabh Verma, both wards of the Gopichand badminton academy at Hyderabad, ensured that the Indian spectators and home crowd had something to cheer about till the quarter-final rounds at least.

In the quarter-finals, 19 year old Sourabh Verma lost to World No.1 Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia in straight sets 21-7, 21-8, while RMV Guru Sai Dutt lost to 8th seed Yun Hu of Hong Kong.

Friday, April 29, 2011

RMV Guru Sai Dutt and Sourabh Verma kept the Indian flag flying high at the end of the 3rd day at the Yonex Sunrise India Open Super Series 2011 badminton tournament being held at Siri Fort Complex in New Delhi in India.

This is the first time that a super-series event is being held in the country, since till the last year the India Open was a Grand Prix category event and got a SS status for the first time this year.

Guru Sai Dutt and Sourabh played beyond spectator expectations, reaching the quarterfinals of the tournament even as celebrated players such as Saina Nehwal and the pair of Jwala Gutta-Ashwini Ponnappa could not make much of a mark at this tourney.

In the first round, Guru beat World No.5 and 4th seeded Boonsak Ponsana of Thailand 22-20, 18-21, 21-19 in what was a major upset of the first round. He then went on to defeat Yuhan Tan of Belarus in the second round by a score of 21-13, 14-21, 21-13 to reach the quarterfinals.

Sourabh Verma who started the tournament as a qualifier, defeated Sony Dwi Kuncoro of Indonesia in the first round of the main draw 21-18, 21-19. He followed this win with another great performance beating 7th seeded Kenichi Tago of Japan in the 2nd round to book a place in the quarterfinals, his best ever performance to date. He will now take on World No.1 Lee Chong Wei in his next match of this India Open-2011 superseries event.

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

The Yonex Sunrise India Open-2011 super series badminton tournament is currently underway at the Siri Fort Complex, at New Delhi in India.
Yesterday the qualification rounds for the men's and women's singles were held and today the first round of the main draw was conducted.

India Open Superseries-2011 - Day 2 - Main draw 1st round match results and highlights of the day, are as below:

Women's Singles:

Major upset of the day was Saina Nehwal's loss against World No. 24, Ai Goto of Japan. Saina lost the match in 2 straight sets, 17-21 and 19-21 in just 34 minutes of play. After losing the first set, Saina fought back bravely in the 2nd set and was leading 19-18, however Ai Goto managed to keep her nerves under better control, taking 3 points on the trot and pocketing the match, to progress to the 2nd round.

Before that, fast rising junior badminton player PV Sindhu who trains at the Gopichand badminton academy, gave a tough fight in her match against 8th seeded Salakjit Ponsana of Thailand, and though the final result did not go in her favour, PV Sindhu's performance raises hopes from her in the future.
Salakjit managed to get past Sindhu 21-19, 22-20.

Men's Singles:

Before this shock loss of Saina Nehwal, Indian badminton fans had a lot to cheer about in the men's section, as Indian men proved their mettle against top class world players.

In one of the most sensational wins of the day, RMV Guru Sai Dutt of India stunned the 4th seed and world no.5 Boonsak Ponsana of Thailand in the first round of the India Open-2011. In a thriller of a match, RMV Guru Sai Dutt won by a score of: 22-20, 18-21, 21-19.

Another major highlight of the day was Ajay Jayaram's strong showing against the World No.1 badminton player Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia. Eventually Ajay lost the match, however just seeing the scores gives an indication of how tough the match was. Lee Chong Wei finally prevailed over Ajay by a score of 21-19, 21-18.

In another upset win, rising star Sourabh Verma of India, defeated world no.37 Sony Dwi Kuncoro of Indonesia, by a score of 21-18, 21-19.

And as expected, P. Kashyap progressed to the 2nd round of the Indian Open, defeating Michal Matejka of Slovakia 21-7, 21-15. He now faces the task of taking on world no.3 Taufik Hidayat in the 2nd round.

All these results of Day2 at the Yonex India Open Superseries-2011, just go on to show the progress that India's men badminton players have made in recent times, and the time has finally come when some of them are now finding themselves within striking distance at the world top 10 positions.

Mixed Doubles
In the mixed doubles, the Indian pair of Akshay Dewalkar & Pradnya Gadre beat the Japanese pair of Noriyasu Hirata and Miyuki Maeda 21-17 21-17, to progress to the 2nd round.

In another mixed doubles match, Pranav Chopra and Prajakta Sawant defeated another Japanese pair of Kenta Kazuno and Ayaka Takahashi 21-14, 21-18 to ensure a place in the 2nd round.

The remaining Indian players in the fray all lost their 1st round matches, with most of them losing to higher ranked seeded players.

Indian Open Superseries-2011 - Tomorrow's matches of Indian spectator interest will be:

In a major upset of the day, Saina Nehwal of India has lost in her first round of the Yonex Sunrise India Open Superseries-2011.
World No.24, Ai Goto of Japan scored a shock win over World No.4 Saina Nehwal in 2 straight sets, 21-17, 21-19 in just 34 minutes of play.

India's main hope at this Indian Open superseries event, Saina Nehwal was the top seed and the favorite to win the tournament. However this was not to be.

Ai Goto won the first set at 21-17, but Saina Nehwal fought back better in the 2nd game, and was leading at 19-18, however Ai Goto then took 3 points on the trot to finish off the game and score a memorable win over Saina Nehwal at the India Open superseries-2011.

Most notable Indian wins were Guru Sai Dutt's win over world no.5 Boonsak Ponsana of Thailand, Sourabh Verma's win over world no.37, and Ajay Jayaram stretching world no.1 Lee Chong Wei before losing.

Madhumita Bisht (former: Madhumita Goswami) is a former badminton player from Uttarakhand in India.
She was born on October 5, 1964, at Jalpaiguri, in West Bengal in India. She got her early lessons in badminton from her father at Siliguri.

Achievements in badminton:
Became the National sub-junior badminton champion of India in 1977.
Madhumita won the Indian National women's singles badminton title for 8 times in her career. Bisht also won the doubles title 9 times, and mixed doubles badminton titles 12 times in her long career which spanned almost 3 decades.

Madhumita won a bronze medal at the Asian games in 1982, and was a part of the bronze medal winning team at the Asian games again in 1998.
In 1992, she represented India at the Barcelona Olympics. She has also represented the country at World Cup and Uber cup competitions. At the international level, Bisht also won a triple crown at the Toulouse Open, and was a runner-up at the USSR open.

She was ranked 29th in the world in 1992. One of her greatest wins that year was when she defeated the then world No. 2 Kusuma Sarwanta in the 2nd round of the Indonesian Open.

Madhumita won her several women's doubles national titles with different partners over the years. Ami Ghia, Mallika Barua, Sudha Padmanabhan, Sindhu, and P. V. V. Laxmi.
Madhumita also participated in the mixed doubles titles with several different players over the years, Sanat Mishra, Harjeet Singh, Vinod Kumar, Vincent Lobo, Markose Bristow, and also once with her life partner Vikram Singh Bisht.

Madhumita retired from active play in 2002, and worked as chief coach for her employers Indian Railways, as a government observer, and at the SAI (Sports Authority of India) badminton academy helping young players to excel at badminton.

Awards won:
Madhumita Bisht was awarded the prestigious Arjuna award for sporting excellence for her achivements in the field of badminton in 1982.
She was also bestowed with the Padma Shree award in 2006.

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

-------------------------Update 27/4/2011:
If you are looking for Day2 results, you will find it at this link: Latest Day 2 results.
The article below lists all Day1 results
-------------------------
The Yonex Sunrise India Open Super Series-2011 badminton tournament got off to a start today at the Siri Fort complex at New Delhi in India. The Siri Fort complex is the same venue where CWG-Commonwealth games badminton matches had been hosted earlier.

On the first day of the Super Series tournament, the men's and women's singles qualifying rounds were played. Updates for the days results are as below. The main draw matches for all events is scheduled for tomorrow.

In the Women's singles qualifiers, the results went as more or less expected, with Indian former national badminton champions Sayali Gokhale, and Trupti Murgunde, and rising junior badminton star all made it to the main draw by winning both their qualifying round matches. Arundhati Pantawane, the National games champion this year, who recently also made it the semi-finals of the Polish Open however could not make it to the main draw. She was up against tough opponents from Hong Kong in both her rounds, and though she won her first match, she could not keep up the winning momentum, and lost in the second one.

In the men's singles qualfying rounds, top-seeded Aditya Elango could not make it past the first round against countrymate Oscar Bansal. Oscar in turn could not qualify for the main draw, as he could not get past HS Prannoy in the 2nd round. Sai Praneeth and Sourabh Verma won their 2nd round qualifying matches against opponents from Thailand and Malaysia respectively, while experienced Anup Shridhar dashed the hopes of N. Kidambi.

The India Open Super series badminton-2011 main draw matches are scheduled for tomorrow, and those results will be interesting to watch. Saina Nehwal is India's main hope in the singles, while the pair of Jwala-Ashwini is the main hope in the doubles. Saina is top-seeded in the women's singles, while Jwala-Ashwini are 8th seeded in the women's doubles. In the men's doubles Indian hopes mainly rest on the shoulders of Rupesh Kumar and Sanave Thomas.

Monday, April 25, 2011

The Yonex India Open Super Series 2011 badminton tournament is starting from tomorrow at the Siri Fort complex, at New Delhi the capital of India, and it is the first time that a badminton tournament of super series status is being held in the country.

Being such a prestigious event, the India Open-2011 provides an excellent opportunity for the younger Indian players to prove their mettle and to gain valuable world ranking points. The participants for the India Open SS are as below.

The Women's Singles qualification round participants at the India Open are as below.

Former national champion Sayali Gokhale is the top seed, another former champion Trupti Murgunde is seeded 3rd. Arundhati Pantawane, the National games champion at Ranchi, and sensational junior badminton player of India, PV Sindhu, are also expected to put up a good show.

The Women's singles qualification rounds will also be held on Tuesday 26-Apr-2011.
There are no qualification rounds for the mens, womens and mixed doubles and players in the main draw will contest for the title.

Malaysia world no.1 Lee Chong Wei is the favorite to win the title, especially in the absence of Lin Dan of China. However he will have a tough challenge from world no.3 Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia, and Peter Gade of Denmark.
India's 2nd best mens singles player as per the world rankings Ajay Jayaram, has the herculean task of facing World No.1 Lee Chong Wei in the very first round of the Indian Open-2011.
The other Indians in the fray are India's top mens singles player P Kashyap, RMV Guru Sai Dutt, Anand Pawar, and reigning National champion Arvind Bhat, alongwith any Indian qualifiers who come through from the qualifying rounds.

Women's Singles main draw participants for the India Open are as below:

Saina Nehwal is the top seed for the event and a favorite to win it. Her most fierce rivals at the world level, the Chinese trio of Shixian Wang, Yihan Wang, and Xin Wang are not playing in the event.
However Saina still faces a tough challenge from Eriko Hirose, who had defeated her at the All-England Open earlier this year, (and later Saina had defeated Eriko at the Swiss Open that followed immediately after the England open), and also other top players. This is a super series event, and Saina cannot afford to take any opponent lightly if she wants to pocket her first superseries title of the year 2011.

Out of this list, Jwala Gutta and V. Diju have confirmed that they are not playing this event, as Diju is undergoing treatment for his back. However their are some other good Indian pairs in the fray, notably Arun Vishnu and Aparna Balan who recently stretched the world no.2 pair last week at the Badminton Asia championships and Tarun Kona who is partnering with Ashwini Ponnappa. The other Indian pairs are also capable of getting some upset wins.

*Notes: Above participant lists may be subject to change. refer official sites for any changes.

The city of Thane holds a special place of repute in the field of badminton in India. Several talented National level players such as top doubles players Akshay Dewalkar and Jishnu Sanyal, and many other upcoming players all hail from this city.

The TMC's (Thane Muncipal Corporation) Syed Modi Badminton academy located in the city of Thane, is one of the most happening places for badminton in the district.

If Pune is considered the best place for badminton in the state of Maharashtra in India, the city of Thane is not too far off either.

Some of the reputed badminton coaches from Thane are:
Shrikant Vad
Mayur Ghatnekar

The Thane City and District badminton association, was formed in 1987, works for the development of the sport of badminton in Thane area. The association helps to conduct various badminton tournaments at the Thane District, Maharashtra State and National levels, as also helps to conduct coaching camps to train budding badminton players in Thane.

Several Badminton Clubs and Academy from the district of Thane, such as the NAVI MUMBAI SPORTS ASSOCIATION, THANE GYMKHANA, THANE, DOMBIVLI GYMKHANA, which are affiliated with the Thane district badminton association have helped to coduct badminton tournaments and provide coaching so as to bring fresh talent in the sport of badminton from this district.

Badminton players in India, are eligible to get the general awards for excellence in sports that are bestowed by the Indian government, and by the state governments that the players belong to. The major General and Badminton Awards in India, given for excellence in the field of Sports are listed below:

General awards for sportspersons in India.
1. Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award - the highest honour that a sportsperson in any sporting field is given in India.
2. Arjuna award - one of the most prestigious award for sportsmen and sportswomen in India. This is second in importance only to the Khel Ratna award.
3. Dronocharya award - This is given to sports coaches for their excellence.

And the below is a comprehensive list of the various Badminton Awards, Trophies, Cup championships in India for National level badminton tournaments:

Listed in this article, are some simple basic badminton rules that will be followed.
Assuming that a Player A and his opponent B are going to play a singles badminton match, the rules are as below:

1. A & B have a coin toss first. The player winning the toss can choose whether to serve or on which side of the court to start play with. If player A wins the toss and chooses to serve first, then opponent B can choose the side on which he will start play.

2. Player A makes a serve (also called as service in badminton) by hitting the shuttlecock to player B who is standing diagonally opposite to him, to receive the serve. (i.e. a simple rule of badminton service is that it always a cross court one)

3. While A is serving, player B cannot touch the lines, till A has hit the shuttlecock with his racket.

4. When a player is making a serve in badminton, the shuttlecock always has be hit from below the waist height. If it is hit from above waist height then it will be ruled as a fault, and opponent shall get the point.
5. At no time during a rally, can A or B touch the net, by their rackets or by their body.

6. Also as per rules, while hitting the shuttle, it should not be carried on, or come to rest on the racquet. This would be ruled as a fault, giving the point to the opponent.

7. Both the players should not reach over the net and hit the shuttlecock which is still on the opponents side of the court, which will also be a fault as per badminton rules and regulations.

8. Whenever a rally is won, a point is added to a player's score who wins a rally.
(In earlier days the rule was different. At that time, when a player lost a rally on serve, he only lost the right to serve next, but not a point. The service simply changed hands in such a case. This resulted in considerable delays in many cases, as games used to get prolonged for an indefinite amount of time, as service kept changing from one player to another without the scores increasing. Now those rules have been changed).

9. A player wins a point when he hits the shuttlecock during a rally such that it touches the floor on the opponent's side of the court, or when the opponent has faulted. The shuttle has to be properly hit over the net and has to land within the boundary lines of the court on opponent's side. Sidelines for singles and doubles play are demarkated separately on the court.

10. The shuttlecock cannot be hit twice in succession by a player. (A player can only hit it once, and the shuttle has to reach the opponent with a single stroke).

These are some of the basic badminton rules listed in a simple uncomplicated way, to help you get started and start enjoying the game.

Badminton Rackets (also called racquets) are very light in weight compared to the rackets used in other sports such as Tennis or Squash. Most modern badminton rackets, do not weigh more than 100 gms.

Materials used:

Long ago people used to play badminton using well-polished wooden framed badminton rackets that were considerably heavy to swing around. Later on, as technological advancements were achieved, these wooden frames were soon replaced with stronger and lighter materials such as aluminum, steel, ceramic, boron, carbon fiber or a combination of these materials.

The badminton rackets that are used by professional players today, are usually made from Carbon fiber which is light-weight as well as being quite strong.

Standard Specifications for Badminton Rackets for professional levels of play is as below:

Total length of the badminton racket should not exceed 680mm.

Total Width (of the racket head) should not be more than 230 mm.

Things to consider when choosing and buying a badminton racket:

Experienced players say that you need not buy a very costly priced racket if you are just starting out in badminton. As your make progress in your game, and learn more about your own style of play, you can opt for better rackets at that point of time.

Weight of the Racket

Lower priced rackets may be generally a bit heavier than high priced rackets, but for beginners there is no harm in starting with it. Only ensure that the racket weight is within the rules specified i.e. less than 100 gm.The weight of a badminton racket is indicated by manufacturers using notations such as 1U, 2U, 3U, and 4U. The 1U indicates heaviest racket weight and 4U is the lightest. The weight of high quality badminton rackets generally ranges from 83 grams to 100 grams.

Grip Size

Alongwith notations for weight, manufacturers also provide notations for grip sizes of the badminton rackets. These usually range from G2, G3, G4 to G5 where G2 is the biggest size grip and G5 is the smallest size. Some brands simply call the grips as small, medium and big sizes. A smaller grip can aid in making the racket is easier to turn in players hands, which can be useful for players who prefer long rallies, and deceptive play.

Head Cover

A good quality badminton racket will also generally come with a head cover when you buy it. This head cover will help to keep your racket safe when it is not in use.

Stiffness and Flex

There are several other factors such as balance point, stiffness and flex of badminton rackets that make rackets different from each other. For finding a good racket for yourself, the best way to judge is to walk into a sports shop/store and try out the rackets yourself. One size does not fit all. And since all players have different physical attributes, hence one type of racket is not suitable for all players.

Whichever racket you ultimately decide to buy, remember that it is ultimately the players skill which matters most at most levels of play. Even badminton rackets that were tailor made to be used by world champions cannot help you win, if you cannot play well.

Improvement in badminton skills, comes more as a result of the badminton practice drills, physical and mental training, and actual match play, as compared to which badminton rackets are being used. Hence practice is more important. However having a good racket that suits you, is also a definite help.

Mentioned below are some of the popular brands of badminton rackets that players opt for.

1. Yonex

2. Li Ning
3. Carlton
4. Wilson
5. Victor

It is a difficult task to compare and review badminton rackets that are made by so many different brands, and to come to a definitive conclusion that a particular brand of racket is the best. This is because playing styles and playing strength varies from player to player and so do their perceptions of rackets.

In general many players consider buying rackets made by Yonex, not only because Yonex offers a wide variety of good quality badminton rackets that can suit players of different playing styles, but also because it has a very good brand name and market reputation. Furthermore the Yonex badminton rackets are easily available in most countries in all the major cities.

Buying Badminton Rackets online

You can also choose to buy badminton rackets online from websites of sports stores or speciality badminton stores or from shopping sites such as Amazon. If you have physically checked out a racket earlier, either with a fellow player or at some sports store, and have confirmed that it will suit you, then buying that racket online at discounted rates can also save on some cost.

Buying Used Badminton Rackets

If you are a beginner in badminton, and are not yet sure which racket will suit you, then it can be a good decision to buy a decent but cheaper used badminton racket that is for sale if it is in a good condition.

Generally fellow players who are going to buy a new badminton racket may want to sell their old one. This can save you on cost, and help you to decide whether that particular brand of racket suits your playing style. However it will be good to ensure that the used racket is in a good condition.

Later on when you are comfortable with a particular badminton racket brand then you can opt for buying a new one off the shelf.

Some strong badminton players of the world such as Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia in the mens singles event, and Saina Nehwal of India in the womens singles event had given the Badminton Asia Championships-2011 a miss, which made China's task of sweeping the titles easier.

After a game of badminton, one of my good friend decided to act funny yesterday, and said "Now I am ready to take on Lee Chong Wei or Lin Dan or Taufik or Peter or anyone who dares, to a badminton match", and he was like "I challenge them to win against me!".

Pin-drop silence. Then our group burst into laughter. This was hilarious. People can really act funny sometimes, and 'Badminton fun' is no different.
"You think i am acting funny? You think I am joking? I KNOW I can win" his claims continued.

People asked him "and how dear Sir, do you think you will be able to beat these badminton world champions? Will you pls. keep that shuttlecock aside, and enlighten us mere mortals, by telling about your extraordinary action plan?!"

"Hmm...I will win" said he "Because I have devised some clever strategies so that the game can be played on an equal footing". "Only some slight changes to badminton rules need to be done, and that's it. And these changes will also ensure a more attractive presentation of the game which will be more appealing to the spectators and the sponsors." He claimed :)

The changes he suggested to standard badminton rules for these challenge matches were this.

1.
Both players have to play with special curved rackets that are bent at the neck by an angle of 90 degrees, either towards the left or right, "and if not 90 degrees" he said "the rackets should at least be curved enough to look like the number "9"."
"This is going to be a major innovation in the world of badminton and it will allow for excellent around the head smashes to be hit". isn't it, he continued.

2.
The second change he insisted on was that since he had developed an allergy to goose and duck feathers, the match would have to be played with 'Peocock' feathered shuttlecocks.
"Forget about badminton skirts" he said. These new "peocock shuttles" will make the game of badminton look beautiful and add a lot more fun and colour to the game" he said.

3.
Since peocock shuttles would be a very costly affair and though the shuttles would look beautiful but would not be as strong and long-lasting, hence hitting a smash too hard would have to be considered as a FAULT.

4.
The last change he insisted, was that the badminton court size would have to be reduced by half, not because he was afraid that he would be beaten by the champs, but only because the peocock feathered shuttlecock would have a higher drag when flying through the air, and would not fly as fast or as long. "Hence half the court size is the ideal one!"

Needless to say, we were stunned, on hearing his witty master plan for winning at badminton against the world champions! Badminton can be fun sometimes!

World badminton is mostly dominated by Asian players, especially those from China. However some European countries, most notably Denmark is still a badminton powerhouse and has its players in top 10 rankings.

Badminton in Asia is a very popular game and especially in the countries of the Asian subcontinent such as Indonesia and Malaysia. Many of the world's best badminton players today, are of Asian origin.

Best Badminton Players from Asia
Badminton in Asia and the world is mostly dominated by players from China who are a major force to reckon with in the world of badminton. Other countries in Asia such as Malaysia, Indonesia, Chinese Taipei, Japan, Korea, Thailand and India also have some very good players.

Badminton Top 5 mixed doubles pairs in the world. (3 are from Asia, Denmark and Poland have 1 pair each in the top 5)
1. Nan ZHANG/Yunlei Zhao - China
2. Sudket PRAPAKAMOL/Saralee THOUNGTHONGKAM - Thailand
3. Joachim Fischer NIELSEN/Christinna PEDERSEN - Denmark
4. Robert MATEUSIAK/Nadiezda ZIEBA - Poland
5. Sung Hyun KO/Jung Eun HA - Korea
*Notes:
All the world rankings mentioned above are as on 24-Apr-2011, on the basis of rankings that are published by BWF every week.

Saturday, April 23, 2011

As per the BWF (Badminton world federation guidelines) the standard weight of a feathered badminton shuttlecock should range from 4.74 to 5.50 grams.
On the other hand, a synthetic shuttlecock used by recreational players that weighs with a +/-10 percent variation is acceptable.

This specification is for the feathered shuttlecock that is used in tournament match play. Feather shuttles have 16 feathers fixed at the cork base.

The feathers which make the badminton shuttlecock so light-weight should have a uniform length between 62 mm to 70 mm when measured from the top of the base to the tip.

The upper diameter, defined by the tip of the feathers ranges from 58 mm to 68 mm.
The lower diameter, of the cork base, ranges from 25 mm to 28 mm, and the base has to be rounded at the bottom.
Feathers of the shuttlecock are fastened firmly to each other with threads or other suitable materials.

The standard specifications for a synthetic (non-feathered) badminton shuttlecock are also same, except that due to differences in material being used, a 10 percent variation is acceptable.

Shuttle badminton is a racket sport played in which a feather shuttlecock (called shuttle) is hit by players back and forth to each other. It is an indoor sport played on a court divided by a net. Players take their place on either side of the court and the objective is to hit the shuttlecock to the opponents court such that the opponent cannot hit it back successfully.

The term "Shuttle badminton" refers to the game of "Badminton" and it is an Olympic sport. The game is often referred to by this name, especially in southern parts of India, in Chennai, Tamil Nadu to be specific. The reason behind this is that there is another similar sport popular in that part of the country which is called "Ball badminton" and it is played with yellow woolen balls hit with rackets. So the racket game that is played with a shuttle instead of with a ball is sometimes called as 'Shuttle badminton' so as to avoid confusion.

This blog covers almost everything you would like to know about the sport. Its rules, court measurements, playing tips, and about the best players in the country.

Feel free to browse through this site.
Giving a few relevant links below:

Badminton (also called Shuttle badminton) is a racket sport, that can be played as a hobby, or to improve fitness, or played at a professional level. Its in fact an Olympic sport and is keenly contested at the Olympics.

If you really want to know what badminton is, and how exciting this racket sport can be, you should take some time out to watch professional badminton players playing the game. Since its a fast paced sport it tends to get the spectators full attention and interest. Its an entertaining game to watch, to say the very least.

What are the Basics of badminton play?
Though hobby players who play badminton for recreation, can pick up their rackets and play the game outdoors in parks or wherever they find the space, professional badminton is always played as an indoor game, on wooden flooring courts having specific dimensions. The game can be played by either 2 players contesting against each other, or by 2 pairs (2 players on each side) contesting against each other.

The objective in badminton is for players to hit the feathered shuttlecock in their opponents side of the court such that their opponent cannot return the shuttle back to them. (This is similar to other racket sports such as tennis or table tennis, except that instead of a ball, players hit a shuttle back and forth towards each other)

When an opponent fails to return a shuttle back, a point is won. 21 such points won wins the game. Each match has maximum 3 such games of 21 points each.

What are the skills are required to play Badminton?
For playing the game as a hobby, not much skills are required. It's quite easy to judge, time, and hit a shuttle that's flying through the air, to your opponent by hitting it with your racket. However if you intend to play the game professionally, then it requires a lot of training and effort.
A professional badminton player should have excellent technique, supreme fitness, and should also be mentally sharp so as to be able to outthink the opponent.
Badminton is a fast game. Very fast. In fact it is the fastest racket sport in the world in terms of shuttle speeds that are achieved immediately after impact with the racket.

What are the health benefits of badminton?
Badminton is a fast paced sport that involves a lot of aerobic activity such as running on the court, stretching to reach the shuttle and jumping in the air to hit the shuttlecock with your racket. Being such a streneous activity the health benefits that accrue from playing badminton are also tremendous.
Almost every muscle of the body gets exercised by playing the game, it is excellent for maintaining healthy body weight and keeps the body well toned.

If you have landed at this page searching for 'What is badminton' hope the above summarization of the sport, gives you a fair overview about the game. I suggest watching a professional game of badminton to fall in love with this beautiful game.

Friday, April 22, 2011

It is very important to know how to grip the badminton racket correctly, when you first learn the basics of badminton. Holding the racket correctly, with the right technique paves the way for future growth in learning the various shots played in badminton.

There are 2 basic ways to hold a badminton racket, namely the Forehand Grip, and the Backhand Grip.
Luckily these 2 grips are not very different from each other, and only a slight adjustment of the thumb position is enough to change from a forehand to a backhand grip.

FOREHAND GRIP

To learn the correct grip, hold your badminton racket by the centre of the shaft with your non-playing hand, and then place the palm of your playing hand on the strings. Then start sliding your playing hand down till it makes contact with the handle.

When the heel of the palm touches the butt of the handle, gently and comfortably close the fingers around the handle and hold the grip as if you are shaking hands with the handle. This type of grip is is known as the Handshake or the Shakehand Grip.

There should be sufficient gap between the thumb and the middle finger, and also between the thumb and the index finger. When the racket is gripped in this way, you should be able to see the 'V' formation between the thumb and the index finger when the racket is held straight in front of you.

As in all racket sports, the racket should be held firmly in the hand, the grip should be neither too tight nor too loose. The racket should not move or wobble around in your palm when you are executing the strokes.
Also the racket should not be held higher up on the shaft, otherwise the handle will tend to hit the wrist while playing the shots, and make wrist shots difficult to execute.

BACKHAND GRIP

The backhand grip is similar to the one used in forehand except that while playing backhand strokes the thumb should move slightly upwards and rest firmly on the flat position of the handle. The thumb thus acts as a support while playing backhand shots helping to generate more power.

The fastest badminton smash ever hit in tournament match play was the smash shot that was hit by Fu Haifeng, badminton doubles player from China, who achieved this world record speed at the Sudirman Cup badminton tournament that was held in 2005. Fu Haifeng, former doubles world champion had hit this powerful smash at a stunning world record speed of 332 km/h (That's 206 miles per hour).

Later in 2009, Malaysian badminton player Tan Boon Heong of Malaysia recorded an even faster smash, that was timed at 421 km/h (262 mph), when racket manufacturers Yonex were carrying out speed test of their new Arcsaber Z-slash brand of rackets. However this record is not counted as an official world fastest basminton smash record, since this shot was not played during actual match play, and was not recorded by BWF (Badminton World Federation) officials.

Badminton is one of the fastest racket sports in the world and a badminton smash clocks the fastest initial speeds of racket movement and fastest shuttle speeds of the smashed shuttlecock immediately after being hit. Due to the unique aerodynamic properties of the feathered shuttlecock, there is considerable air drag when the birdie (shuttle) flies through the air, which fast reduces the speed of the shuttle rendering the game playable.

Saina had a memorable last year 2010, when was successful in winning the Indonesia, Hong Kong and Singapore superseries titles apart from grabbing the Commonwealth games gold medal and also was the India Open GP gold-2010 winner. She is the top seed and is playing well having won the Swiss Open GP gold recently. It remains to be seen whether she will become the Yonex Sunrise India Open Superseries -2011 champion.

Badminton Events featured at India Open-2011
A total of 5 events will be played, the Men's Singles, Women's Singles, Mens Doubles, Womens doubles, and the Mixed doubles events.

Indian hopes rest on Saina Nehwal and Jwala/Ashwini
Indian badminton fans will be hoping to see good performances from Saina Nehwal, and from women's doubles pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa who withdrew from the Badminton Asia Championships-2011 held at China to focus on this Superseries event at home.

Jwala-Diju have pulled out of the SS event
The best Indian mixed doubles pair of Jwala Gutta & Valiaveetil Diju are not participating in this event as Diju is undergoing a treatment for his back injury.

Excellent chance for young Indian players to shine
Good performances may also be expected from some of the younger indian players who will be looking forward to make a mark with their performance at the India Open. This is also a good opportunity for the younger players to garner valuable world ranking points since the tournament has been given a SS status this year.

China not participating - Lee Chong Wei favorite for men's singles title
The Chinese badminton players are not participating in the tournament due to the Badminton Asia championships followed by national badminton tournaments in China. However Malaysian World No.1 Lee Chong Wei as well as world no.3 Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia will be seen in action at New Delhi, vying for the men's singles title. 28 year old Lee Chong Wei who recently won the All-England Open, is considered the top favorite in the absence of his arch-rival Lin Dan, the world no.2 from China.

The India Open badminton tournament starts on 26-Apr-2011.
Ticket are available online at http://in.bookmyshow.com/sport/badminton/
The ticket rates vary based on the seating positions in the stadium and range from Rs. 200 to 300 for the qualifying rounds to Rs. 500 to 1000 for the finals.

The last remaining challenge at the Badminton Asia Championships-2011 being held at China came to and end on day 3, but not before Indian Arun Vishnu and Aparna Balan gave the World No.2 pair a run for their money.

Arun Vishnu/Aparna Balan lost to the world no.2 Sudket Prapakamol/Saralee Thoungthongkam of Thailand by a score of 14-21, 21-23.

Other Indians in the fray at the Badminton Asia championships had already crashed out of the tournament yesterday.

The next important tourney coming up on the badminton calender is the India Open Super Series-2011 which will be held at New Delhi in India from 26-Apr to 1-May. The tournament which was a Grand Prix level event earlier has been accorded a Super series status from this year, and hence Indian players have a lot to gain from this forthcoming event in terms of ranking points as also in terms of exposure to high quality international players who will be taking part in the event.
World no.1 Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia as also World No.3 Taufiq Hidayat of Indonesia have confirmed their participation for the India Open.

A powerful badminton smash shot is one of the best weapons to have in your repertoire of badminton strokes.

When you play an effective killer badminton smash that is directed sharply downward so as to land in the empty areas of your opponent's court, it leaves your opponent with little time to react and to come up with an effective defence. Even if your opponent does manage to defend and block your smash, the return is more likely to be a weak one, providing you with further opportunity to attack further.

It is often said that offense is the best form of defence. That the one who agresses, the one who takes the initiative wins half the war. And in a badminton game, nothing is as agressive, offensive, and attacking than the well directed and strongly fired badminton smashes.

Learning how to fire a basic badminton smash to the opponent's side of the court is quite simple and easy. With proper training of smashing technique, regular practice drills, and good old hard work and belief, you will be able to master and execute the magical stoke with all its variations such as the forehand overhead, around the head, the jump smash, and the backhand smash also.

Angle of the badminton smash

The angle of your kill shot should be such that the shuttle should be directed sharply downwards to the opponents side of the court. The steeper the angle of the shuttle's trajectory is, the nearer to the net it will fall on the opponents side. Also a steep angled smash means that the shuttle travels a lesser distance, and gives your opponent lesser time to react and defend with a block. However the angle and the direction of the badminton smash should also be decided based on the opponents position on the court, whether the opponent is right-handed or left-handed and the opponents strong and weak points.

Point of Racket Contact/Impact with the shuttlecock

The correct point of contact while hitting a smash is in front of your body and not when the shuttle is already over or behind your head. This will ensure that you can hit the shuttle downwards with a smooth fluid movement.

Forehand Smash

The forehand badminton smash is comparatively simpler to execute. It comes quite naturally to most people, and hence a discussion on how the non-racket hand should point towards the shuttle, how the eyes should be rivetted on the shuttle's motion seems unnecessary. These are natural body movements. The only point perhaps worth noting by the beginner is the point of impact, the point at which to hit the shuttle. The other body biomechanics are nature's gift. Like a child learns to walk, to run, to ride a bicycle, everyone can learn to hit the smash quite easily.

Around the head smash

Around the head forehand smash is very similar to the regular normal forehand overhand smash except that the position of the shuttlecocks is towards the non-racket side of the player, and hence the around the head racket shot needs to be played. Several players prefer to play this shot whenever possible instead of playing a weaker backhand shot.

The Jump Smash

This shot is the most spectacular and appealing of all badminton shots, that leaves badminton fans everywhere asking for more. The shot is played by jumping in the air, reaching to the shuttle and hitting it in mid-air. Before you try mastering this shot, learn the basic smash techniques first.
A jump smash gives a opponent lesser time to react, because of the time saved by hitting the shuttle at a higher contact point, and because the angle of the smash is steeper, meaning the shuttle has to travel lesser distance and takes lesser time to reach the opponent's court. Countering a well-placed jump smash with a blocking defensive shot is hence very difficult.

The backhand smash

The backhand smash on the other hand is the most difficult and one of the trickiest of all badminton shots to master, and not only amateurs but sometimes even some professional badminton players cannot play this shot correctly.

Tips on learning how to smash, and to improve on it.

There is no hidden secret or strange magical secrets to hitting a good badminton smash except for learning the basics and working hard at perfecting your technique.

Learning the basic smashing techniques under the guidance of good coaches, trainers or better senior players helps. The other way to learn all these kinds of smashes is to watch established players playing these shots, or alternatively to view good badminton videos with slow motion if possible, and then implement and test in your practice drills based on what you have learnt from the videos.

While watching the players or the videos, try and observe the badminton player's grip on the racket, the footwork, the shifting of body weight and use of momentum while playing the shot, the shoulder and arm action, the point of contact and timing, the wrist movement, and the followthrough action, instead of watching how the shuttle travels to the opponents court and how it leaves the opponent flummoxed.
Forget about watching the results of the smash,focus on studying the cause behind that result.

Do Drills and Fitness training to improve your badminton Smash

Badminton smash drills involve practising playing the stroke by asking your opponent to feed the shuttles to you at smashing positions. Focus on getting your body position, timing, balance, execution and followthrough right. Build up on badminton smash technique first, before trying to hit hard power smashes aimed at beating the world record smash speed.
Experiment with your stroke to find the optimal body movement that generates the maximum power with the least effort and which allows you to get back in position as quickly as possible after playing the smash.

By the way, the world's fastest badminton smash record in match play is 332 km/h (206 mph), and this record speed smash was hit by Chinese badminton doubles player Fu Haifeng in the 2005 Sudirman Cup.

Badminton Smashes are strokes that require a lot of strength and power. Work on fitness to improve the overall strength of your arms, shoulders, legs, and your back. The fitter and stronger that you are the better your smash will become.

When to hit a smash

The objective of playing a point in a badminton game is not to hit a smash, but to win the point. It may not always be necessary or even wise to smash at every possible chance.

One, because you will become predicatable, and opponents will be able to outthink you soon, and two, because smashing also will take away a lot of your strength, which may affect you in later games or matches during tournaments. Many a times deceptive shots played with good technique are much more effective, and take away less of your energy. Even if you have a good smash, take the efforts to master the entire range of badminton shots such as the drop shot, the drive, the clear and the likes. There is always further scope to work on and improve on aim, accuracy and consistency in shot placement.

My view is you should hit the smash, when that smash will gain you a point or give you some kind of a tactical advantage in the rally. If the same point can be comfortably gained by playing a simpler shot, the simpler shot should be preferred because it gives you the advantage of saved energy which will turn out to be useful later.

Having said that powerfully hit smash shots (especially the jump smashes) are destructive weapons and sometimes can simply be used to overwhelm and dent your opponent's confidence to give you a physchological edge for the remainder of the match.

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

The Indian challenge is almost over at the end of the second day at the Badminton Asia Championships-2011 being held at Sichuan in China.

Aditi Mutatkar fought hard against world no.18 Salakjit Ponsana of Thailand, and even managed to win the second game, but it was not enough as Ponsana finally won the match 21-14 14-21 21-7.

Sai Praneeth who had won his first round match, could not do much in the 2nd round against the 10th seeded and world no.27 Kazushi Yamada of Japan.

It must have been a good learning experience for the Indian women's doubles pair of Pradnya Gadre/Jyotshna Polavarapu (world ranking:143) who were up against the World No.3 pair of Miyuki Maeda/Satoko Suetsuna (Japan). To their credit they did give a fight, to stretch their opponents in the first game winning 17 points, before finally losing the match 17-21, 8-21.

Matches coming up tomorrow for Indians
The mixed doubles pair of Arun and Aparna is the only Indian challenge left in the fray now.
The match coming up tomorrow for Indians is:
Arun Vishnu/Aparna Balan vs. Sudket Prapakamol/Saralee Thoungthongkam of Thailand

Arun Vishnu and Aparna Balan had got a bye in the first round, and will need a miracle to overcome the challenge of the World No.2 pair of Sudket Prapakamol/Saralee Thoungthongkam of Thailand, whom they face in the second round of the Badminton Asia championships-2011.

India entered the competition without its best singles players Saina Nehwal, P Kashyap, and Ajay Jayaram, and without its best doubles pairs of Jwala Gutta/Ashwini Ponnappa, and Jwala Gutta/V.Diju.

While the other Indian players did try their best, their efforts ultimately fell short and the Indian challenge is almost over by the end of the second day.